By ActionCOACH Business Coach, Eddie Walsh

Great leaders are fundamentally based in 2 areas, the “future” and the team morale. The future is about strategy and planning but morale is the other key place.

What are you doing as a leader to keep up morale? One of the keys ways is firstly to recognise success and secondly to celebrate it. Let’s look at what happens when we don’t celebrate… Morale is day-to-day, week-to-week.

As an employee, you’ve worked painlessly day in and day out and FINALLY hit your target on the last Friday of the month. You’re ecstatic and proud of yourself (as you should). But, when Monday morning comes around, no one recognises this success and instantly shifts the focus immediately onto next month’s target.

This becomes an endless cycle month after month. So what do you do? You leave.

Why do people work in teams? Just like football teams, they want to be successful. Successful teams celebrate, unsuccessful teams don’t – coincidence?

If you have a successful team and you don’t celebrate, your employees will leave and find a team that does. Watch your successful team start to fail, while they ask themselves “what’s the point?”. In our current generation, people want to be included in success and not feel like another number who comes in and sits at a desk.

Yes, they’re paid a salary, but, they can also be paid a salary with a competitor that enjoys and celebrates its successes. Which one would you choose?

Often, I’m asked how to do this? Here are a few simple ideas:

Catch them doing good (Stephen Covey – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)
Ask your team to choose how to celebrate a win this month/quarter…
Let your team know how you’ll celebrate if the goal is met
Praise and name good results publicly and in front of others
Pizza on a Friday / Coffee and buns on a Monday
Always remember one of your keys roles is to keep morale high…

Morale is day-to-day, week-to-week.

Hitting a goal or a milestone without celebrating is not finishing the goal. How do you motivate people to hit the next level? Celebrate the previous success! Therefore, you demotivate by not celebrating and therefore start to fail…

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